A Productive Afternoon
by Jack of the North
Summary: A short oneshot about an encounter between Lee and Hermione. Boredom, the great motivator.


* * *

Hermione glanced up as she sensed someone take a seat beside her. It was Lee Jordan, a boy from the twins' grade, tall, dark skinned and fairly attractive. She was a bookworm, she wasn't blind.

"Hey," he said, taking out his books. He laid them on the table and started working on his charms essay, the same class that currently occupied her mind and work space.

"Hey," she said casually back, before turning to flip a couple of pages in her textbook. They worked side by side for nearly an hour, quietly scratching away at their essays as the previously packed library slowly emptied.

Curious about their study partners, they both started sneaking glances at each other, catching each other's eye occasionally, before hastily turning away.

As Hermione's essay came to a close she found herself thinking about the boy sitting next to her. She knew he was a good friend of Fred and George, who in all their years at Hogwarts they had never been seen in the library, so that Lee was in there was intriguing to her. And so she told him.

"I was surprised to see you in here," she said, surprising herself with her boldness. Lee finished off the sentence he was working on and turned to her, flashing her a brilliant smile. He liked that she had initiated a conversation.

"Well, I, unlike the twins, don't plan on running off to open a joke shop. I need to think a little more practically about my future." He gestured to the books laid out before him on the table.

"Their mum just about killed them," Hermione giggled, remembering the letters Ron and Ginny had received from their mother warning them that if they dared drop out of school she would put a permanent sticking charm on their backsides and a school chair.

"I imagined she would have. It was brilliant though, the way they left. Those fireworks were ace." Lee obviously held his friends in very high esteem.

"Well, don't tell them I told you, but I thought it was all very impressive." The unlikely pair shared a laugh. Hermione blushed slightly before averting her eyes back to her finished essay. Lee watched her a moment later before he too turned back to his work.

Hermione finished checking over her essay and began to put her Charms books away. The library was nearly empty as dinner was only half an hour away. Lee was about to ask her if she wanted to walk back to the common room with him when she took out some more books and started studying. He watched her, noticing for the first time that under all that hair and stern face, Hermione Granger was pretty, in her own way. He admired her dedication to her work and casually leaned over to see what she was reading.

"_Quidditch Through the Ages_?" he asked, quirking an eyebrow.

He watched in amusement as a blush crept onto her cheeks, staining them a pretty shade of pink.

"Oh, uh, yeah. I thought I could find something reassuring to tell Ron. You commentate the Quidditch games," she said, suddenly realising who she was talking to. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"You know that saying those who can, do; those who can't, teach?"

Hermione nodded.

"Well for me it's those who can't, commentate. I love Quidditch, I know just about everything there is about it but as far as being up on a broom and actually playing, well lets just say that after three broken arms my mother won't let me near a broom."

Hermione giggled at the image of a nearly grown man being grounded by his mother while all his friends soared into the sky.

"I mean, when I was younger," Lee said, realising he sounded like a mamma's boy. "When I still thought I was indestructible. I've learned since then that the best place for me is one the ground."

"So no ideas?" Hermione asked, calming her laughter.

Lee thought for a moment. Wanting to come up with an answer and please her. "Confidence. He just needs some reassurance and self-confidence. I've seen him when he's flying well, he's really good. He just needs to remember that going into the games."

"Thanks. I'll try to be _extra_ encouraging." She glanced at her watch and noticing the time, she quickly packed her books up.

"Um, do you want to walk with me to dinner?" Lee asked nervously. Nervously? What was wrong with him? He was never nervous around girls. However, the other girls were usually throwing themselves at him. He wasn't as popular as the twins, but he did alright.

"Okay," Hermione said brightly, not catching the real meaning of the invitation. Lee didn't even really know the real meaning. He just knew he wasn't ready to walk away from Hermione yet. And that confused him to no end.

On the way to dinner, Hermione happily chatted about NEWTS and OWLS and asked Lee a slew of questions about the upcoming exams. He indulged her, answering all of her questions and responding to all her comments. He was quickly finding himself addicted to that throaty laugh she emitted whenever she inadvertently answered her own question or when Lee would say something amusing.

Shaking his head, he marvelled at how he could come to this point after only one afternoon with the witch. He wasn't in love or anything but he was definitely interested in getting to know her more.

"Well, thanks for walking with me, Hermione," Lee said a little awkwardly as people filed past them into the Great Hall.

"No problem," Hermione said. She hoped her voice was calm and steady while her stomach was doing back flips. "Do you want to maybe, uh, go to Hogsmeade together this weekend?" Hermione rushed out, sure he would say no.

Lee looked surprised and delighted.

"Yeah, sure, that would be great."

"Great," Hermione repeated, a little giddy. She'd never asked a boy out. Now that it was done though, she suddenly found herself desirous to be far from the situation. "Well, I better go find the boys. Whoops, sorry," she said as she backed into someone in her haste to get way.

"We'll sort the details out later?" Lee asked, chuckling as she blushed spectacularly.

"Yep, uh-huh, see you then."

Lee smiled to himself, quite happy with the afternoon's events. He couldn't wait to tell the Twins that he had a date with none other then Hermione Granger; they'd flip.


End file.
